CFPB Opens Up Credit Card Complaints Database

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government’s watchdog agency tasked with regulating consumer financial products and services, just unveiled the initial version of its online database that catalogs consumer complaints against credit card companies.

The database allows you to not only see the details of each complaint, but also visualizations that break down the complaints by zip code, complaint response types, issue type and date.

Entries in the database disclose the bank involved, the nature of the complaint, the customer’s zip code and how the bank or card issuer handled the complaint, but no personally identifiable information about the borrower.

Currently it only contains credit card complaints that the bureau has received since June 1, 2012. New complaints are to be added daily after the agency confirms the existence of a commercial relationship between the company and the consumer making the complaint. Later this summer, the CFPB anticipates adding the complaints it received prior to June 1st. Eventually, the database will include complaints regarding mortgages and student loans as well.

The CFPB has made it clear that that the database is still in a “beta” phase, with its functionality and interface still under development. Under consideration are the possible addition of narrative fields (while still preserving consumer anonymity), more detailed product and data fields, as well as additional visualizations and data tools.

You can find the database here.